[xxii] Council resolution of 18 November 1999 on the promotion of mental health. Official Journal C 086, 24/03/2000 P. 0001 - 0002, Council Recommendation of 5 June 2001 on the drinking of alcohol by young people. Official Journal L161, 16/06/2001, P. 0038- 0041

17. Encourages the establishment of an EU Platform on Mental Health and Well-being to implement the European Pact, consisting of representatives of the Commission, the Presidency of the Council, Parliament, the WHO and service users, people with mental health problems, families, carers, non-governmental organisations, the pharmaceutical industry, academics and other relevant stakeholders, while deploring the failure to adopt a directive at European level as advocated in the above-mentioned European Parliament resolution on the Commission's Green Paper on mental health;

12. Stresses the need for clear and long-term planning for the provision of high-quality, effective, accessible and universal community and in-patient mental health services and for the adoption of criteria for monitoring by independent bodies; calls for better cooperation and communication between primary healthcare professionals and mental health professionals to deal effectively with problems associated with mental and physical health, by encouraging a holistic approach which takes into account the overall profile of individuals from the point of view of physical and mental health;

17. Encourages the establishment of an EU Platform on Mental Health and Well-being to implement the European Pact, consisting of representatives of the Commission, the Presidency of the Council, Parliament, the WHO and service users, people with mental health problems, families, carers, non-governmental organisations, the pharmaceutical industry, academics and other relevant stakeholders, while deploring the failure to adopt a directive at European level as advocated in the above-mentioned European Parliament resolution on the Commission's Green Paper on mental health; '

8. Notes that the Green Paper envisages that the first priority forcombating mental ill health is to provide effective and high-quality mental health and treatment services through medical and psychologically-based interventions, which means that suitable infrastructure and sufficient financial resources must be available; believes, however, that the first priority for combating mental ill health should be the same approach as for supporting mental health and preventing mental illness; considers that medical treatment cannot take th ...[+++]e place of social factors which maintain the health of society in general; believes that there should be more emphasis on preventing mental ill health through social and environmental interventions accessible to people with mental ill health such as those described in section 6.1 of the Green Paper;

A. whereas one in four people in Europe experience at least one significant episode of mental ill health during their lives; whereas mental ill health affects everyone in the EU either directly or indirectly, and during the course of any one year 18.4 million people in the European Union aged between 18 and 65 are estimated to suffer from major depression; whereas good mental health enables citizens to be intellectually and emotionally fulfilled and integrated into social, educational and professional life; whereas, conversely, poor mental health gives rise to expense, social exclusion and stigmatisation,